… The initial DISCLOSE Act passed the House of Representatives by a 219 to 206 vote with only two Republican lawmakers offering support. Both of those lawmakers –- Reps. Mike Castle of Delaware and Joseph Cao of Louisiana — are no longer in Congress. It ultimately failed to pass the Senate by a single vote, with all 59 Democrats backing the measure but no Republicans offering support. …

Today Maryland Congressman Van Hollen issued the following statement on the introduction of the DISCLOSE 2012 Act, which will promote transparency and disclosure of the secret money being used to influence American elections:

“I’m pleased today to join Congressman Brady and other Democratic co-sponsors to introduce the DISCLOSE 2012 Act. The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates to unrestricted special interest spending in American elections and threatens the very nature of our democracy. Unfortunately, Republicans blocked this legislation in 2010, and we are already seeing unprecedented secret spending and its negative impacts.

“The American people deserve a political system that is fair, transparent, and accountable. They have a right to know who is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence them. That is why House Democrats are introducing the DISCLOSE 2012 Act. The bill is a first step to clean up the secret money in politics, and it will promote transparency and disclosure of the funds being used to influence our political process. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation – if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear from the DISCLOSE 2012 Act.”

…. All Israeli wars since 1973 were flawed wars of choice. Israel initiated all of them. None of them was inevitable, none resulted in any benefit that could not have been achieved using different means. In fact all of them were disastrous for us, even if the disaster was even greater for the other side. …

It’s hard to understand how a society that has so impressively brought social injustice to the top of the agenda has fallen victim to our nationalist-religious leaders’ criminal ploy and the irresponsible opposition’s helplessness. …

Netanyahu, with Barak’s help, has turned the Iranian nuclear threat into an impressive ploy to distract attention from settlement policy and the perpetuation of the occupation. He has taken advantage of President Barack Obama’s preoccupation with the U.S. presidential elections and Obama’s fear of the Jewish right. …

Netanyahu is to address the annual policy conference of the influential pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, which will be held in the U.S. capital on March 4-6, an official statement said. …

There was also no official word on whether Netanyahu would see any Republican presidential hopefuls, some of whom have accused Obama of a lack of commitment to Israel’s security, an allegation White House officials deny.

The Israel Lobby has swindled us into the an unnecessary war on Iraq. – It now promotes another unnecessary attack on Iran. America will probably be dragged into this conflict by default. – This may result in a major world conflict.

Iran is not a threat to any state in the Middle-East. – Rather, Israel is the primary conflict instigator!

Three years ago, General Clark stated that the Pentagon planned attacks on 7 counties in that region. Iran was named as one of those countries. – The Israel Lobby is deeply ensconced in Pentagon strategy planning.

America can not afford such a major conflict in light of its current fiscal problems.

The whole world considers our Middle-East policy as foolish and lacking moral rectitude.